1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for assembling a fender panel of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for assembling a fender panel of a vehicle, which can easily control the fender panel of the vehicle in back-and-forth or right-and-left horizontal directions and also save cost by a simple assembly structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a fender apron is provided on the right and left sides of an engine room of a vehicle to serve as a partition with respect to a wheel and support a force delivered from a suspension. Also, a front fender (hereinafter, referred to as a fender panel) surrounding a tire is disposed outside the fender apron.
Usually, since the fender panel defines a boundary with a lamp and a bumper in addition to a hood panel, fitting gap step adjustment with the hood panel and the bumper is needed during the assembly of the fender panel.
Hereinafter, a typical fender panel assembly structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a hood panel 20 and a bumper cover 30 are provided. Also, a fender panel 10 is assembled using two brackets such that parting lines with the hood panel 20, a head lamp 25 and the bumper cover 30 can be adjusted in back-and-forth and right-and-left horizontal directions.
A first bracket 11 of the two brackets is integrally welded to a front side member 50, and has a bolting aperture 14 for coupling with a second bracket 12 at a side portion thereof.
The second bracket 12 is integrally connect to the lower end of the fender panel 10 by welding or bolting at an outer end portion thereof, and the second bracket 12 has an expansion aperture 15 with a larger diameter than the bolting aperture 14 of the first bracket 11 at the inner end portion thereof.
Accordingly, the inner end portion of the second bracket 12 is allowed to overlap the first bracket 11, and simultaneously, the expansion aperture 15 of the second bracket 12 is allowed to align with the bolting aperture 14 of the first bracket 11. Then, a bolt 16 is inserted into the expansion aperture 15 and the bolting aperture to fix the assembly of the first bracket 11 and the second bracket 12.
In this case, when the bolt 16 is not completely fastened in a temporary assembly, the second bracket 12 integrally coupled to the fender panel 10 is moved in back-and-forth and right-and-left horizontal directions to adjust a gap between the expansion aperture 15 of the second bracket 12 and the bolt 16. Thus, the gap step difference of the fender panel 10 can be adjusted with respect to the parting lines with the hood panel 20 and the bumper cover 30.
The front end portion of the second bracket 12 is integrally connected to a front end module 40 coupled to the bumper cover 30 to provide a supporting stiffness for the front end portion of the fender panel 10.
For reference, the front end module 40 refers to a component that is modularized for easiness of assembly of a carrier that forms the frame, a head lamp, a radiator, and a front bumper beam.
However, the typical fender panel assembly structure has the following limitations.
First, since the two brackets, i.e., the first and second brackets are used to control the assembly location of the fender panel in back-and-forth and right-and-left horizontal directions, the weight of the vehicle body and the manufacturing cost may increase.
Second, since the gap step difference of the fender panel is adjusted while the first and second brackets are being separately assembled, the assembly working time may increase, and thus the assembly workability may be reduced.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.